John
McCain is now seeking to postpone today�s presidential debate in order to focus
on the financial crisis.
Okay,
so he incapable of multitasking. A president needs to be able to juggle
multiple high-priority items at a time. But that is not my biggest concern.
My
biggest concern is McCain�s track record on our economy. I think he�s done
enough.
He
has admitted that he doesn�t understand economics as well as he should
(although he has since denied that he ever said that, suggesting that he was
either lying or extremely forgetful).
And
his lack of understanding was quite apparent when he told us last week that the
nation�s economy was �fundamentally strong� (which he has also tried later to
tap-dance around).
But
even without a good understanding of economics, McCain has taken it upon
himself to play in that sandbox in order to appease the special interests.
He�s
been a staunch supporter of the kind of deregulation that has contributed to
our current financial crisis.
One
of McCain�s top economic advisors, former Senator Phil Gramm, may be more
responsible than any other single individual.
This,
by the way, is the same Phil Gramm who said that the current recession is �mental�
and that America is a �nation of whiners� for complaining about the economy.
And
this, by the way, is the same Phil Gramm who has been mentioned as a possible
Treasury secretary in a McCain administration.
Another
top McCain economic advisor, Donald Luskin, would like us to believe that the
economy is booming.
And
now for the icing on the cake: The New York Times recently reported that
Freddie Mac paid $15,000 per month from the end of 2005 through last month to a
firm owned by Rick Davis, who happens to be McCain�s campaign manager.
According
to the Times, �[sources] said they did not recall Mr. Davis�s doing much
substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than to speak
to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on
the approaching midterm congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis�s firm,
Davis Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of his close ties to Mr.
McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to
run again for the White House.�
So
there you go.
This
is what the McCain team has been doing for our economy.
Thanks,
Senator McCain, but I think I�d rather have you focusing on the debate.
Mary Shaw is a
Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a focus on politics, human rights,
and social justice. She is a former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning
human rights group Amnesty International, and her views appear regularly in a
variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. Note that the ideas expressed
here are the author�s own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
Amnesty International or any other organization with which she may be
associated. E-mail: mary@maryshawonline.com.